Islamabad United trounce Lahore Qalandars

ISLAMABAD: A brilliant comeback by Islamabad United with the bat and later with the ball helped them trounce Lahore Qalandars in match number 20 of the sixth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) at Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Sunday.

Islamabad United had set a 153-run target for Lahore Qalandars to chase after they chose to bat first when they won the toss. At the beginning of the chase, Lahore seemed like it would cruise to victory when Sohail Akhtar and Fakhar Zaman had opened the innings and taken their side to 55/0. But Fawad Ahmed bowled the Qalandars captain for 34 on the last ball of the powerplay.

Zeeshan Ashraf then followed his skipper to the dugout after five balls. He was run out due to a mix up between him and Zaman. With the fall of the wicket, Lahore were 58/2. Then a double-wicket over by Mohammad Musa started to turn the tide in favour of Islamabad. Veteran Mohammad Hafeez was caught at point by Hussain Talat and Ben Dunk was dismissed after he edged a ball to the wicketkeeper. After Musa, Shadab bowled the 14th over and took wickets of Tim David and Rashid Khan to expose Lahore’s tail.

In the 14th over, Shaheen Shah Afridi and James Faulkner were sent back to the pavilion. The dismissals put Lahore at 100/9 at the end of the 15th over. At that point, the Qalandars required 53 runs from 30 balls while Islamabad needed one wicket to win. And United made sure there were no twists in the tale by taking Lahore’s last wicket at the second ball of the 18th over to wrap up the game.